2310 BCE

Hirom’s fingers were very sore and raw.

It all happened so very fast.

It was a cool morning, with plenty of sunshine. One moment, he was up in the garden with Leonara, digging up potatoes and radishes. The air was very fresh and sweet, and he smiled as he held up a lumpy one.

”Look!” he exclaimed.

Leonara wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled. “That is a very big one.”

“Shall we have it for supper?”

Before she could respond, a shadow fell upon them. The next thing he knew, there was a big, burly man with an enormous beard that grabbed him by the left arm. The overseer named Bou. The one who had tied Enlil to the pole. His eyes were blacker than the night sky, and he towered over the both of them. Hirom squirmed, trying to yank free. He pounded with his tiny fists, but Bou laughed, revealing a gap between his two front teeth.

“What is the meaning of this?” Leonara demanded, dropping her basket down in the dirt. She reached for Hirom. “Let him go.”

Bou shoved her so hard she landed in the dirt with a grunt. Hirom’s screams filled the air, so he had to raise his voice to be heard. “The master has orders to bring the wrench to the villa. I take him now. You return to work.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “What?”

“You heard me,” the overseer snarled. “Now be off with you, lest I whip you raw.” He glared at the crying boy. “The master orders it.”

”You cannot do this,” Leonara replied. “Let me go with him. Take me with you—”

”I shall do nothing of the sort,” Bou thundered. “He stays up there, to tend to the mistress.”

Hirom tried to break the man’s grip on his wrist. He tried and tried to pry his fingers apart, but it was to no avail. It was after he had yelled Leonara’s name until his voice was raw that he saw her figure grow smaller and smaller on the field. Her hands and cheeks and face were smudged with dirt. She did not try to run after him, so he watched her figure blend in with the trees and bushes and leaves until she had become nothing but a speck.

Now he was in this courtyard.

Through his puffy eyes, he could make out the color of each elaborated tile. He could not remember the name of the strange woman who taken him out of Bou’s arms upon reaching the front door of the villa, gently holding him in her own until he ran out of tears. She offered him soft bread and told him to eat, but Hirom stared at it. She didn’t seem to know what to do next, so she led him out here and told him that she needed it cleaned.

The boy scrubbed each individual tile while on his knees. He could see his reflection in each one, and his shoulder burned, but he kept going faster. He wasn’t sure for how long he had been outside, but he heard the sounds of curtains rustling. The sound made him slightly jump, and he wiped his eyes as Telal’s shadow slowly came into view.

Telal carried a leather ball in both hands, although his face was downcast. After a few moments of silence between the two, he finally spoke—yet it was very, very quiet.

“Do you want to play with me?”

Hirom gave him a long look, before dunking the rag into the bucket and squeezing it out. Drops of water landed on the ground. Something hot was building up inside of him. It was the same sensation that he had experienced when he had seen the soldier the night his village was burnt to the ground.

“You are supposed to answer me.” A dark red shade fell on Telal’s pale face. He hesitated for a moment, before taking another step forward. “You….you need to answer.”

As Hirom stood up, his throat burned. “No.”

“But…” Telal’s voice wavered. “But why?”

”I don’t want to. I want Leonara.”

Telal’s blue eyes narrowed, although he was attempting to hide the hurt behind them. “You do not tell me no. You never tell me no.”

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”I am leaving,” Hirom said, throwing the rag on the floor. “I want to see Leonara now.”

”She is not here,” Telal said in a low voice.

As Hirom to move past Telal, he was startled by a blow to the face. He staggered back a moment, before delivering a punch directly to Telal’s jaw. The ball rolled out towards the fountain. After shoving each other, both children landed on the ground, wrestling and kicking. Telal’s left sandal with went flying into the bushes as Hirom struck back to get him off of him. Blood was seeping past his nose. With his right foot, Telal kicked him in the stomach and sank his teeth in his arm. In retaliation, he scratched the top of his forehead, leaving behind a red streak.

The sound of shouting echoed in the courtyard, followed by two rough arms of a female slave yanking Telal off Hirom, who was breathing heavily. His thin arms and legs were still swinging in midair. The dark look in his blue eyes wavered, before he began to silently burst into tears. Hirom scrambled to his feet and took off running in the bushes.

He did not get very far.

* * * * * * * *

The shed was a very dark place.

There was a thunderstorm that shook the world. Hirom could hear the corners of the earth tremble. His stomach growled—a result of two days of no food after work as punishment. He missed seeing the stars outside of Leonara’s window. His arms and legs were bruised on account of the beatings he received. He listened to the sound of the raindrops going faster and faster against the ground. Puddles formed outside on the dirt.

He wasn’t sure how he had gotten here. His swollen lip made it hard for him to swallow up what water leaked through the roof. Each morning the overseer let him out to work around the villa. He was only offered a piece of bread at noon. And each night, he was locked up again, laying on a small patch of grass and dirt in the corner. He tried to peek at the stars past the spaces of the wooden board.

Utua, Enlil, and his family were looking down at him. His baby sister as well. She was probably playing in star dust, laughing, and waving. And his father, standing tall, with his mother close by his side. Their memories helped him usually helped him sleep and forget for a moment.

But this night, there was no stars. Only wind and rain and water and mud. It was cold.

Hirom shivered and wrapped his thin arms tighter around himself for keep warm. He longed for his wool blanket and the tiny bed that Leonara had made for him in her hovel. He missed her herbs and the soups she made for him. The thought made his mouth water.

The cut on his forehead was still healing. He wondered when Leonara would come for him, take him home. He just wanted to go home. It was incredibly dark, pitch dark, just like the ship that he was on. So far, he had been scrounging around for grass. A blade of grass. But so far, there had been no luck.

His stomach grumbled. What he would do for a roasted potato, freshly roasted in the coal. With the skin peeling off—fresh and warm and hot. He could almost taste it.

Hirom must’ve dozed off, because he found himself startled awake with the sound of the door opening several hours later, followed a jingling of rusted metal keys. The scent of cold, damp evening air rushed in, followed by the sound of crickets. Impulsively, he scrambled backwards against the dirt, crouching behind the cobweb covered barrels in the corner of the shed. By now, he was used to the overseer’s rough hands yanking and shoving him out of the shed.

But the figure standing in the moonlight, to his horror, was Telal. His shadow spread out across the ground. With his left hand, Hirom picked up a rock and threw it. It narrowly missed him and ricocheted off the wooden wall.

Telal heavily set down a basket on the ground. He glanced at the rock, but did not pick it up. He was soaking wet from the rain, muddy and shivering. Water dripped from the ends of his tunic. He stepped timidly inside the shed, looking around in the dark space.

“I brought…I brought food.”

“Go away,” Hirom yelled, picking up another rock. His eyes were wet. “I don’t want it.”

“I…I am really sorry,” Telal weakly said.

“Leave.” The other child began to throw more stones, causing Telal raise his arms to shield himself from them. “You took Leonara away.”

“No,” Telal began. “I did not.”

“Yes you would. You are a liar.”

Telal flinched. “No,” he whispered.

”You are a liar, liar, liar!”

”No!”

Hirom was gasping, tears streaming down his cheeks. He dropped the rocks he had collected in a pile and curled up in a ball, hugging his bruised knees to his chest.

”I’m…I’m not a liar,” Telal shakily said. He sat down, flinching as a bolt of lightning broke through the sky. “I don’t like lying.”

Both boys listened to the rain for a moment

“I did not mean to hit you,” Telal continued, finally breaking the silence. He looked down at the dirt for a moment. “I’m really sorry. Will you still be my friend?”

“No,” Hirom snapped. He shook his head. “I don’t want to be friends with you anymore. Leonara is my friend. Not you.”

Water filled Telal’s eyes. “But I am sorry.”

”You’ll hit me. Like the overseers.” Hirom’s face darkened. “Like the master.”

”No…I won’t! I promise I won’t.” Telal stammered. “It was wrong. Mama told me it was wrong. But I won’t do it again.”

Hirom stood up and brushed the dirt off his knees. As he ran outside in the fog, he could hear Telal shout after him, begging him to come back, but he kept going, tripping over the mud and slippery moss as his voice became quieter, until it was at last silent.